Giovanni Samaey wrote:
>>>>> 'n' as in d^n/dx^n .
>>>> Somewhat confusingly, 'N' is being used in the docstring as a synonym
>> for 'order' and is the number of discrete points used to evaluate the
>> numerical derivative. I'm going to fix that.
>>>> For example, when n=2, and order=3, one is computing the second
>> central derivative using 3 points [x0-dx, x0, x0+dx].
>>> Normally, one would expect "order" to be an indication of the accuracy
> of the derivative. So, order=p should mean
> d^n/dx^n (exact answer) - (what's computed) = O(dx^p) where dx is the
> mesh spacing.
> Clearly, with three points for the second derivative, the order is only
> two, so this is clearly not a mathematically correct use of the word
> "order"...
Not really. "Order" is an incredibly overloaded word in this area. Its
usage here is one of several acceptable ones. "numpoints" may be
clearer, though.
--
Robert Kern
rkern at ucsd.edu
"In the fields of hell where the grass grows high
Are the graves of dreams allowed to die."
-- Richard Harter